Bain: The top minor-league pitchers in the Expansion Era

From SABR member Derek Bain at Tuatara Software on April 30, 2018:

In the process of conducting research for the “Minors vs. Majors” chapter for my upcoming book “Hardball Retroactive”, I compiled a database encompassing every player-season for the past 55 years (1963-2017) corresponding with the reorganization and reclassification of the minor leagues prior to the start of the 1963 season.

Computing the statistics for each individual and generating a subset of pitchers having at least 150 innings pitched through the duration of their minor league careers, I added columns for minor league Wins, Losses, Saves, ERA, WHIP, BB9 and SO9 along with the basic formula for Fielding Independent Pitching (see Terminology section below). I generated a chart comprised of the top minor league pitchers in the expansion era supplemented by the career leaders in the standard percentage categories (ERA, WHIP, BB9 and SO9). 326 pitchers possessing a minor league career FIP below 2.75 are the primary focus of my assessment. The complete list can be found here.

Read the full article here: http://www.tuatarasoftware.com/baseballanalytics/2018/04/30/minors-vs-majors-the-top-minor-league-pitchers-in-the-expansion-era/



Originally published: April 30, 2018. Last Updated: April 30, 2018.